Die Like an Eagle (Meg Langslow Mystery, #20)

by Donna Andrews

[MurderByDeath]

Number 20 - a milestone in any series, and Andrews has never once in 20 books disappointed me.  Some that are weaker than others, but they're always entertaining and Meg's family just grows on you, until you often care more about them than the mystery itself.   Die Like an Eagle centers on the fictional equivalent of Little League baseball.  Meg's boys are old enough to start playing, and Michael's the assistant coach.  Meg, of course, is the team mom.  She soon learns that not everything is cool in the field of dreams, as the league is run by a despot who claims that it doesn't earn its keep, so the kids are forced to play on an overgrown field while the parents occasionally fall off the bleachers as the bolts give way.   Meg to the rescue!  With her over flowing well of common sense and a massive family at her disposal, she sets off fixing what's broke and going head to head with the league despot - and finds his look-alike brother dead in the feral port-a-potty, but was he the intended victim?   I loved this book - I gave it four stars because the mystery was good, but the murderer was telegraphed early on - but the rest of it...I'm going to go all John Lennon here for a moment and say the non-mystery part of this book is how the world should be.  This is how shit should work.  Andrews has Meg look at a problem, break it down into its components and fix them one at a time.  She is never about who to blame; she's just about finding a solution and the people around her who are willing to cooperate and participate.  Not all of them are, of course, but enough to make a difference.  It leaves the not-yet-too-cynical reader feeling good when the book is done.   Bring on 21!